April 2010

April 22, 2010

Earlier this week I was listening to the Drupalcon keynote “State of Drupal” presentation given by Dries Buytaert, project lead for the popular open source content management system. I wanted to hear Dries discuss any interesting new capabilities (Drupal providing the basis of WCM “distributions,” kind of like Linux distributions, is intriguing to think about) as well as project metrics (3,000 Drupalcon attendees, 6,700 add-on projects, some other big numbers). However, to me, neither of these were the most interesting parts of the presentation.

At one point in the presentation Dries said the following:

“The key message is, as we grow we need to stick to our core values and core culture…It's a culture of sharing and collaboration and it is absolutely key to everything that we do.”

He said this while showing the slide below:

Open source projects can be great examples of successful collaboration. Although it sounds simple, expecting your people to make time to collaborate (and to put it on their schedules), I think, is a big deal. Many executives have outlined, in some form, the same challenges (we are growing, stick to our culture, collaborate). However, I suspect far fewer of them took it the step further and told their people to put collaboration on their schedules.

When was the last time you reserved time on your calendar to collaborate? Outside of meetings (where someone else reserved time on your calendar) have your ever reserved time to collaborate?

April 19, 2010

I never thought I would be saying this, but volcanoes are a good use case scenario for web conferencing.

The eruption of ash from Eyjafjallajökul in Iceland is shutting down air travel and driving travelers to alternatives. For businesses, there are potential negative impacts if the appropriate meetings and conversations are unable to happen. Hence, web conferencing to the rescue. In the past, major events that have impacted travel spurred interest in web conferencing. The good news for businesses today is that there are a plethora of choices for web conferencing solutions and many of them are in place in the organization already.

From a technical point-of-view, web conferencing has steadily improved and, generally, has become more intuitive, fast, and feature-rich.

Most enterprises already have two or more web conferencing solutions implemented within the organization. It is not uncommon for the enterprise to have software-as-a-service (SaaS) web conferencing contract in place (usually purchased by the marketing department), as well an on-premise solution that is part of a larger collaboration platform.

The major vendors for web conferencing all offer SaaS and on-premise solutions – Adobe, Cisco, IBM, and Microsoft – but, you need to be wary of differences in features and capabilities and map those to your use cases.

April 01, 2010

Yesterday’s White House forum on workplace flexibility offered a good opportunity to see how our notion of “workplace” has been evolving. In addition, a report entitled “WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND THE ECONOMICS OF WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY” was also issued by the White House. It highlights why workplace flexibility is needed and how “many employers have adapted to the changing realities of American workers.”

“More than any particular policy initiative or new program announcement, yesterday's session at the White House was a symbolic moment that signified, at last, a new era in which we are really talking and thinking differently about work and its relationship with the rest of our lives. The First Couple, relaxed and confident in their choices, spoke candidly about the difficulties they have faced in cultivating a successful marriage and family while pursuing careers about which they feel passionate.”